Latching mechanism



Aug. 6, 1957 H. F. GEORGE LATCHING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May5 1955 g- 6, 1957 H. F. GEORGE 2,801,869

LATCHING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z, Z 9 Mmflliar'rzgy 2,8tllfi69 LATCHHJG MECHANISM Harry i George, Chicago, t

Application May 5, W55, Serial his. snares d Elalms. Cl, 292--22t3 Thisinvention relates to improved latching mechanism for doors and the like,and is adapted for use in both metal and wood doors, and in such otherconnections to which it may be adapted.

The present invention is an improvement over those disclosed in mycopending application Serial No. 446,718, filed July 30, 1954, andPatent 2,764,014 granted to me September 25, 195-5.

Among the objects of my invention are: to provide a new and improvedlatching mechanism; to provide a latching mechanism that is of reliableand compact con struction, is positive in action, efiicient inoperation, and economical to manufacture; to provide a latchingmechanism having a novel form of locking means; to provide a latchingmechanism having means for manually locking and unlocking the door fromtheinside with relation to access from the outside of the door, and inwhich there may be omitted or applied, as desired, key-operated meansfor locking and unlocking the door from the outside; to provide latchingmechanism having locking means operable from the inside of the door, andin which it is impossible to lock oneself out accidentally; to provide anovel construction and arrangement of lock bolt or bar and associat dparts; to provide latching mechanism that may be factory assembled,turns left or right, may he applied to left and right hand doors ofeither metal or wood, that requires no rnortising, is easy and quick toapply to the door, and is fool-proof in operation; and such furtherobjects, advantages and capabilities, inherently possessed by myinvention, as will later more fully appear.

My invention further resides in the combination, constru tion andarrangement of parts illustrated in the accon anying drawings, and whileI have shown therein preferred embodiments I wish it understood that thesame are susceptible of modification and change without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is. a top plan View of a latching mechanism cmbodying myinvention, and showing the same applied to a metal door, the door andassociated parts being shown in cross section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking upwardly toward the bottom of Fig. 1,from the line Z-2 of Fig. 1, and showing the inside handle in normallatching position in solid lines, and swung laterally to unlatchedpositions in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is an edge elevation looking from the zigzag line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 8, and showing thelock bar in unlocked position.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the lock bar in unlockedposition and swung with the shaft in a counterclockwise direction, asviewed in Fig. 2, to unlatched position.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the lock bar in lockedposition.

Zfihifihh Patented Aug, 6, 1195? Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail face viewof a spring washer having detents for releasably holding the lock bar inlocked and unlocked positions.

Pig. 8 is a section on the line 8-3 of Fig. 3, and showing the lock barand associated parts in unlocked position.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing the lock bar andassociated parts in locked position.

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section, partly in elevation, showing mylatching mechanism in latched position, and locked from the inside, andshowing means for lock and unlocking the same by a key from the outside.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged, transverse section on the line ll-1ll of Fig.10, but showing the lock bar in unlocked position.

Fig. 12 is a View similar to Fig. 11, but showing the lock bar in lockedposition.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary section on the line 13-13 of Fig. 11, butshowing the lock bar partly in edge elevation and partly in centralsection.

As shown in the drawings for illustrative purposes, this inventioncomprises, in general, a cup-shaped housing 1 having a circular hollowinterior within which is slidably mounted a lock bar 2, the housinghaving a pair of oppositely disposed extending ears 3, through whichextend screws, bolts, or the like, i for securing the housing to theinner side face of the door 5, a shaft, spindle, tube, or the like,extending through the housing and door, and having secured thereto atits outer end a knob 6 or 6', and having formed on its inner end aninner handle or 7 having a pivoted spring-pressed latching nose it, aslidable and manually operable plate 9 or 9, and a. lock-operating leverltd or 10' pivoted intermediately of its ends to the shaft, spindle,tube, or the like, and movably connected at its ends to the plate 9 or 9and. the lock bar 2, whereby when the door is latched in closed positionthe door may be locked and unlocked from the inside, with relation tothe outer knob 6 or 6', by sliding plate d or 9, and when desired atumbler lock may be incorporated for operation by a key from theoutside, so that the door may be locked and unlocked both from theinside and the outside. 1

In the form shown in Figs. 1-9, the lock cylinder and outside key areomitted, and the main shaft or spindle is indicated at 11, which shaftfor a distance along its outer end portion is formed longitudinallyalong both sides wtih flattened faces 12 to engage similar flattenedfaces on the opposite sides of the hole 13 axially formed in the knob 6to rotate the shaft when the knob is rotated. Extending axially adistance into the outer end of the shaft 11 is a hole. 14 threaded toreceive the threaded screw 15' which at its outer end is formed with aconical head rotatably fitting in a countersunk seat in the knob e, toenable proper adjustment of the knob, shaft and door. Shaft ll extendsthrough registering openings in and 17 in the opposite side walls of themarginal metal tubing of the door, or through a suitable opening in awood door if the door may be made of wood.

Beyond the inner face of the door, the shaft 11 passes centrally throughthe hollow interior of the housing 1, that portion of the shaft withinsaid hollow interior being square in cross section as shown at 13 inFigs. 46. Where it emerges from the housing 1,. the shaft 11 isincreased in diameter to form the neck 19, from which it extendsinwardly and laterally to form the inner handle 7. It is thus seen thatthe shaft 11 is integral, or fixed as one piece, from the inner handle 7to the end that extends into and is fixed to the knob 6, whereby theinnethandle '7, the shaft 11, and the knob s will be ro tatahle togetheras a unit.

The housing 1, in one of its side Walls, as shown in Figs. 4-6, 8 and 9,is formed with an opening 20, of a size slightly larger than theadjacent end of the lock bar 2, so that said adjacent end may slide intoand out of said opening upon movement of the lock bar for locking andunlocking purposes, as later more fully explained. The lock bar 2 isformed with a rectangular opening 21, longer in one direction than theother, to permit the lock bar 2 to have sliding movement transversely ofthe square portion 18 of the shaft 11, so that the lock bar may moveinto and out of the opening 20 in the housing side Wall, and also rotatewith shaft 11 when the lock bar is out of engagement with opening 20,see Figs. 4-6. Fixed by pins, or the like, 22 to the interior of thehousing 1, on the side opposite from opening 20, is an arcuate lug 23 ofa thickness to form a stop for the rear end of the lock bar 2 when theforward end of the lock bar has been moved inwardly to clear the sideedges of opening 20. The lock bar at this time may rotate with shaft 11upon rotation of either handle 7 or knob 6.

Positioned in each of the curved spaces between the side wall of thehousing 1 and the lock bar 2, is a coil spring 24, seated at its nearend over a projection 25 fixed to the lug 23, and at its front endseated against the side edge of the forward end portion of the lock bar2. R0- tation of the lock bar with the shaft in one direction or theother, will compress the coil spring 24 on that side, see Fig. 5, andwhen the turning force applied to either handle 7, or knob 6, isreleased, the compressed spring 24 will exert its stored energy toreturn the front end of the lock bar into registry with opening 20, asseen in Fig. 4. Positioned over the lock bar 2, on the turning handle 7side thereof, is a slightly bent spring washer 26, having a squareopening 27 through which extends the square portion 18 of shaft 11, sothat the washer 26 turns with the shaft but does not move laterallythereof. Formed in the edge of washer 26 toward opening 20, is a recess28 to receive the inner reduced end 29 of lever 10 which is seated in ahole 30 formed in the front end portion of lock bar 2. Formed in thespring washer 26, one on each side of opening 27, preferably on thecenter line of the washer extending at right angles to the direction ofmovement of the lock bar 2, is a pair of indentations formed by a prickpunch or the like to cause the opposite face of the Washer to protrudein the form of a pair of small projections 31, which seat in a pair ofindentations 32 and 33 formed in the adjacent face of lock bar 2 toreleasably hold the lock bar in unlocked position, and which projections31 seat in a pair of indentations 34 and 35 also formed in the adjacentface of the lock bar to releasably hold the lock bar in locked position.As will be understood, these projections and indentations serve asdetents for the purposes stated.

After the parts have been assembled in the hollow interior of thehousing 1, as described above, they are held in place therein by acircular plate 36 having a radial slot 37 of a width less than thediameter of the cylindrical portion of shaft 11, the edges of the plateat the two sides of the slot being pushed into place in acircumferential groove 38 formed in the shaft 11, see Figs. 8 and 9, tohold the housing and its contained parts together as a unit. Thisenables the housing and its interior parts to be assembled at thefactory. A cover plate 39, of the same contour as the inner face of hehousing 1 and ears 3, and having a central hole to receive shaft 11, isapplied over the circular plate 36, and secured between the the housingand the door by screws 4, as will be understood in Figs. 1-3.

Secured in appropriate position to the door frame, or other suitablesupport, is a striker plate 40 having a shoulder 41 and a beveled frontedge 42. The latching nose 8 is pivoted at 43, in a recess 44 in theenlargement 19 of the shaft 11, there being a compression spring 45mounted between a cut-away inner face of the latching nose 8 and thebottom of recess 44, to normally hold the latching nose in its out-wardposition but permit it to be pushed inwardly of the recess as it ridesover the beveled edge 42 of the striker plate when the door is shutwithout first turning the handle 7 or knob 6. As soon as the nose 8passes over the beveled edge 42 and clears the shoulder 41, spring 45forces the nose outwardly and into position behind said shoulder. Thenose 8, when in the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9, is prevented fromswinging further to the rear by the stop 46. The rear edge of nose 8 iscurved at 47 to facilitate its sliding over the beveled edge 42 of thestriker plate during closing of the door, and at its front edge isformed with a lesser curve to facilitate its being forced back ofshoulder 41 by spring 45. To release the latching nose 8 from behind theshoulder 41, the inner handle 7 or the outer knob 6 may be turned eitherclockwise or counterclockwise, to swing the handle 7 into one or theother of the dotted line positions shown in Fig. 2, which will swing thenose 8 laterally away from the shoulder 41, and permit opening of thedoor. The latching and unlatching of the door will be understood fromthe above.

To enable locking of the door so that it cannot be unlocked from theoutside, but can be unlocked only from the inside, there is formed inthe enlargement 19 of the shaft 11, on the side opposite from the nose8, a longitudinal recess 48 extending from the housing 1 to and throughthe inner handle 7. In this recess the lever 10 is pivoted at 49, thereduced end 29 of this lever being seated in the slightly larger hole 30in the lock bar 2. The other end of lever 10 i pivotally connected at 50to the locking plate 9 which is slidably mounted on the inner handle 7for movement therealong. The end of locking plate 9 opposite from thefree end of handle 7 is extended a suflicient distance that if the plate9 be inadvertently moved to locking position when the operator is on theoutside and the door open, the slamming or pushing of the door shut willcause the extended end of plate 9 to cam over the beveled edge 42 of thestriker plate 40 and move the locking plate 9 to the right as viewed inFigs. 8 and 9, and through movement of the lever 10 cause the lock bar 2to slide inwardly into unlocked position, thus preventing the operatorfrom in advertently locking himself out.

From the above it will be clear that, with the locking plate 9 in theposition shown in Fig. 8, and the door open, the door may be readilylatched merely by pushing the door to closed position, and it may beunlatched from either the inside or the outside by turning the handle 7or the knob 6 as the case may be. It is also seen that when the door isclosed, and the handle 7 and knob 6 released, the sliding of the lockingplate 9 to the left to the position shown in Fig. 9, will, throughmovement of the lever 10, slide the lock bar 2 into the opening 20 intolocked position, it being understood that the face of the housing has ashort slot sufiicient to permit movement of the end of the lever in bothdirections of its movement. It is now impossible to unlatch or unlockthe door from the outside, the unlocking of the door being possible onlyfrom the inside by sliding of the locking plate 9 to its unlockingposition. The locking plate 9 on its exposed face is preferablyroughened to facilitate its operation bythe operators finger.

In the form shown in Figs. 10-13, a lock cylinder has been added so thatthe door may additionally be locked and unlocked by a key from theoutside. The lock bar 2 in Figs. 10-13 is slightly different from thelock bar 2 in Figs. 1-9, in order to enable operation by the lockcylinder with a key from the outside, but its manual operation from theinside by the locking plate 9' is accomplished in the same manner as inFigs. 1-9.

In the form of Figs. 10-13, the shaft or spindle 11 of Figs. 1-9, fromwhere its square portion 18 joins the enlarged neck 19, to its endwithin the knob 6, has substituted for it a tubular shaft 51 which hasformed therethrough a transverse slot or opening 52 to receive the lockbar 2 for sliding movement therein, into and out of the opening 20 ofthe housing 1. The housing 1, opening 20, lug 23, and springs 24, arethe same in both forms. The tubular shaft 51 passes axially through thehousing, the slot or opening 52 therein being located within the housingas seen in Figs. 10-13 to receive the lock bar 2 which operates withinthe housing. The tubular shaft 51 on the inner side of the lock bar 2,immediately therebelow as viewed in Fig. 10, is solid, to and includingthe inner handle '7, except for a longitudinally extending slot 53within which lever 10' is pivotally mounted on pin 49', this lever, atits lock bar end, being formed with a reduced portion 29' seated looselyin hole 3% formed in the lock bar 2.

At its opposite end lever 10 has fixed thereto a roughened and extendedfinger piece 9 which under a push or pull by the operators finger willswing the lever 19' in one direction or the other to appropriately slidethe lock bar 2 into or out of locking position. Also pivotally mountedin the slot 53, upon a pin 43', is a latching nose 8' which is normallyurged outwardly by a compressed spring 45' seated in a recess in thenose 8' and having abutment at its rear end against a lug 54 extendinginto the slot 53. Formed on the lever 10', on the opposite side of itsfulcrum pin 49 from the lock bar 2, is a projection 55, directlyopposite and closely adjacent the upper inner edge portion of thelatching nose 8 when the lock bar 2 is in the locking opening 20, asseen in Fig. 10. This construction prevents the operator fromaccidentally locking himself outside should the finger piece 9' beinadvertently moved to locking position when the door is open. Shouldthe latter happen, and the door he slammed or pushed shut, the latchingnose 8' will ride over the beveled edge 42 of the striker plate whichwill push the rear inner edge of the nose farther into the slot 53 andstrike the projection 55, which will swing the lever 10'counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 10, and move the lock bar 2 intounlocked position and permit rotation of the tubular shaft 531 by eitherthe outer knob 6' or the inner handle 7'. As soon as the latching nose 8passes inwardly behind the shoulder 41 the compression spring 45 willforce the nose behind said shoulder into latched position.

The outer end of tubular shaft 51 is threaded at 56 to threadablyreceive the knob 6', which is further secured on the shaft by a setscrew or the like 57. Mounted in the inner bore of tubular shaft 51 is alock cylinder 58, of the conventional tumbler type, having in its outerend the usual key slot. Rotation of the key in the slot will rotate thelock stem which has fixed on its inner end a cylindrical head 60 formedon its inner face with an eccentricaliy located, longitudinallyextending, crank pin 61. The lock bar 2, on one of its side edges, isformed with a recess 62 into which the crank pin 61 extends, so that, asthe lock stem is rotated in the tubular shaft, the

crank pin 61 will, by striking one end or the other of the recess 62,move the lock bar 2' into or out of the opening 2i) in the housing forlocking or unlocking purposes, depending on the direction of movement.The length of the recess 62 is sufficient to permit the lock bar 2' tobe moved into and out of engagement with the housing opening 2%,independently of the crank pin 61, by movement of the lever it)" andfinger piece 9. When the lock bar is .in unlocked position, and the keyremoved from its slot, the crank pin 61 and the recess 62 will stand inthe relative positions shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 12 shows the relativeposition of these parts when the lock bar 2 is in locking position, andthe key removed from its slot.

To releasably hold the lock bar 2 in locked and unlocked positions, aleaf spring member 63 is secured at its ends to the tubular shaft 51, inthe slot 52, along the edge of the lock bar opposite to the edge havingthe recess 62. This leaf spring member is formed with a small projection64 intermediate of its length, which projection automatically snaps intonotch 65 in the lock bar 2 when the lock bar is in locked position, andinto notch 66 in the lock bar when the lock bar is in unlocked position.This construction forms a detent means to releasably hold the locked barin the position to which it has been moved, and yet permit it to bemoved out of such position by the finger piece 9 on the inside of thedoor, or by the key on the outside of the door.

It is thus seen that I have provided a latching mechanism which, bymanipulation on the inside of the door can be locked against opening ofthe door from the outside; and which may be so set from the inside as tobe locked against opening of the door from the outside except by anoutside key, which key may selectively lock and unlock the door from theoutside regardless of the setting of the inside locking means, and withwhich latching mechanism it is impossible for the operator toinadvertently lock himself out by setting the inside means to lockingposition when the door is open.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. Latching mechanism, comprising, a shaft, a lock bar connected withthe shaft for rotation therewith and for transverse sliding movementwith relation thereto, a stationary member having an opening into andout of which the lock bar is movable for locking and unlocking purposes,a lever fulcrumed to said shaft to extend longitudinally thereof, saidlever at one end being connected to move the lock bar upon swingingmovement of the lever and having at its other end a finger member formanually swinging the lever, a laterally extending projection on thelever between the lever fulcrum and the finger memher, and a latchingnose pivotally mounted on the shaft for swinging laterally with relationto said shaft, a portion of said latching nose removed from its pivotbeing directly opposite said projection so that when said nose is swunginwardly of the shaft it will contact said projection when the lock baris in locking position and swing the lever to move the lock bar intounlocked position.

2. Latching mechanism, comprising, a shaft adapted to extend through adoor, a turning member secured to one end of said shaft, a latching nosepivotally mounted on said shaft for swinging movement laterally thereof,a stationary housing through which said shaft extends, said housingbeing adapted to be secured to the inner face of a door, a lock bar insaid housing, said lock bar being connected with said shaft for rotationtherewith and for radial sliding movement with relation thereto, saidhousing having an opening in a side wall thereof into and out of whichsaid lock bar is movable, a lever fulcrumed to said shaft at a pointbetween said housing and the inner face of said turning member, one endof said lever being connected to the lock bar to slide it into and outof said opening upon swinging movement of the lever, a finger member onthe other end of said lever for swinging the lever, said finger memberbeing positinned adjacent the inner face of the turning member formovement laterally of the shaft, a stationary striker plate over whichsaid latching nose slides to cause it to swing inwardly, and aprojection on said lever between said fulcrum and said finger member,said projection being in a position to be contacted and moved by thelatching nose as it swings inwardly for swinging the lever to move thelock bar out of said opening and prevent the operator from beingaccidentally locked out when the door swings shut.

3. Latching mechanism, comprising, a shaft adapted to extend through adoor, said shaft having an outer turning member and an inner turningmember, a stationary member adapted to be secured to the inner face of adoor and having an opening adjacent said shaft, a lock bar connectedwith said shaft for rotation therewith and for radial sliding movementwith relation thereto, said lock bar being slidable into and out of saidopening, a latching nose pivotally mounted on said shaft for lateralswinging movement with relation thereto, a

lever fulcrumed to said shaft at a point between said lock bar and saidinner turning member, said lever on one side of said fulcrum beingconnected to the lock bar for movement of the lock bar into and out ofsaid opening upon'swinging of the lever, a finger member on the lever onthe opposite side of said fulcrum for swinging the lever, and a lateralprojection on the lever between said fulcrum and finger member adjacentsaid latching nose, so that upon inward swinging movement of the nose itwill contact said projection and swing the lever to move the lock barout of said opening.

4. Latching mechanism for a door and the like, comprising, a shaftadapted to extend through a door, said shaft having an outer and aninner turning member secured thereto, a stationary housing through whichsaid shaft extends, said housing being adapted to be secured to theinner face of a door and having an opening in a side wall closelyadjacent said shaft, a lock bar rotatable with said shaft and radiallyslidable with relation thereto, said lock bar being slidable into andout of said opening for locking and unlocking purposes, said shafthaving a longitudinally extending slot, a lever extending longitudinallyof the shaft in said slot from the lock bar to the inner face of theinner turning member, said lever being fulcrumed to the shaft and havingone end articulated with the lock bar for moving the lock bar into andout of the housing opening, said slot adjacent the inner turning memberhaving a lateral extension opening through the opposite face of theshaft, a latching nose pivotally mounted on said shaft in said lateralextension of said slot for swinging movement therein, and a lateralprojection on the lever between its fulcrum and the end of the leveraway from the lock bar, said projection being in lateral alinement witha portion of the latching nose and closely adjacent thereto, so thatupon inward swinging movement of the nose it will contact the projectionwhen the lock bar is in locking position and swing the lever to move thelock bar into unlocked position to prevent the operator from beingaccidentally locked out when the door swings shut.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS990,541 Gates Apr. 25, 1911 1,388,732 McFall Aug. 23, 1921 1,464,315Gates Aug. 7, 1923 2,449,711 Milligan Sept. 21, 1948 2,525,340 ClarkOct. 10, 1950 2,707,121 Behnke Apr. 26, 1955 2,710,213 Hottel June 7,1955

